


Always on the Hunt for a Little More Time

by lesbiananglerfish



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alcohol, Alex Makes A Lot Of Mistakes, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, M/M, Partying, Questioning Sexuality, Semi-autobiographical, Typical College Behavior, bi characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-23 21:11:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6130207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbiananglerfish/pseuds/lesbiananglerfish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alexander, for the first time in his life, has absolutely no idea what he is doing.</p>
<p>College does that to people.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A lot of the plot and events are based off of events in my life currently. Obviously things have been changed to be more in character. Anyways, it's certain to be a mess.

He had known Eliza was interested since last semester; that much had been obvious. Alex had known even before the GSA trip when Eliza had fumed when he got knock-down drunk and hooked up with that girl, what was her name? He supposed that wasn’t important. 

So when Eliza had asked if he wanted to see a movie, he knew that by accepting he had agreed to a first date. She was cute and so sweet and kind it took his breath away at times, so he considered himself lucky.

Of course, he had gotten a killer headache halfway through the movie and totally ruined the date, but Eliza had been so sweet about it. She helped him back to his dorm and took care of him through one of the worst migraines he had had in years. Eliza had even stopped him from murdering Jefferson, his roommate who insisted on blaring music at top volume even after Alex had told him he was having a migraine. What an asshole, if he wasn’t naked literally all the time Alex would have beaten the shit out of him by now. As it was, he really wasn’t comfortable being around his permanently unclothed roommate, much less touching him in any way.

Later that night when Eliza had left and the pain had subsided enough to look at his phone, he had laughed at the drunk texts Eliza had sent to him, but quickly texted her friend Angelica to confiscate her phone. As flattering as the misspelled compliments were, he didn’t want Eliza to say something she would regret the next morning. Lord knows he knew what that was like.

He enjoyed hanging out with Eliza and her friends. Most of them were from the Gay-Straight Alliance that he made a point to attend every meeting. They were crazy, drama filled, queer, borderline alcoholics but they knew how to have a good time. At least when Aaron Burr, the only member over 21 and therefore the supplier/enabler wasn’t having one of his routine meltdowns over literally nothing. He seemed like a nice person, he just had pretty much zero control over his emotions when he was drunk, which was basically all the time.

As wonderful as being part of a squad was, Alex’s closest friend since he came to college had been Peggy. She was quite possibly the most awkward person he had ever met, having grown up with an ultra-conservative family in a little town no one had ever heard of. He had driven her home during one break and had nearly shit himself when he saw not one but two different people driving tractors on the freaking road. 

Despite her terrifying Southern Baptist upbringing, he never felt like Peggy was judging him or his choices. They had more inside jokes than they could count and their conversations rarely made sense to other people because of them. They joked that the reason they didn’t have any other friends was because they kept having their weird ass conversations in public and everyone thought they were insane. It had stopped being a joke about a month ago when they realized it was true. 

And so Alex had they perfect college life, right? A really close friend he could be as strange as he wanted to be around and could trust with anything, a girl who was interested in a second date despite a disastrous first one, drinking buddies for the weekend, and a decent enough class schedule. That was when John Laurens walked into his life.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Alexander groaned quietly and dropped his head onto his desk. He usually loved history, but this professor had the enthusiasm of a damp potato and he was going to die. He heard a muffled snort from behind him at his antics, so he muttered his potato-based observation to his apparent audience. A second snort, slightly louder than the other, still wasn’t enough to distract the professor. Although it was possible she didn’t hear it, if Alexander had to guess her age he would say somewhere around 115. He also murmured this, this time turning slightly in his seat to look at whoever it was who had been appreciating his sass today.

And wow, okay. The boy sitting behind him had freckles. Alex had never really thought one way or the other about freckles but damn did this boy rock them. His long curls had been swept back into a ponytail that was neater than anything Alex had been able to do with his own shoulder-length tresses. He student grinned easily at the joke Alexander had already forgotten he told and his breath caught in his throat. Are people allowed to smile like that? That should definitely be illegal he thought dazedly.

“John Laurens,” the freckled boy offered, leaning forward slightly in his seat.

“Alexander Hamilton,” he breathed back.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is so disjointed, I'm sorry.

Alex drummed his fingers on his knee, considering his cracked phone screen that most insisted made everything illegible. It had never particularly bothered Alex and he knew that a replacement would meet the same fate within a week at any rate.

“Coffee?”  
It was really only one word but Alex could tell when he was being asked out.

And thus his dilemma. He hadn’t known John for long, they’d really only had the one conversation in person a few days prior, but they had been texting ever since. He had learned that John was a biology major, but deeply cared about politics and held all the same opinions as Alex. He’d really grown to like his classmate and wouldn’t at all mind going out with him but there were two major road blocks.

First, Alex had no idea if he even liked guys. Sure, he’d caught himself looking every now and then but he’d always seen himself as being with woman and had no reason to question that.

Secondly, Eliza. They’d really only gone on two dates and were certainly not an official couple by any means, but it was clear that she wanted to be. Was it wrong to go on a date if they weren’t exclusive?

Alex was pulled out of his spiraling thoughts by his phone buzzing again. 

“I’ll buy,”

Well, that settles it.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

John Laurens, it turns out, was a coffee snob.

He insisted that Starbucks was his last resort, but it was closer to campus and Alex needed to be back in time for his 3 o clock class.

“You have to get the Guatemalan blend, it’s the only coffee worth drinking here,” He insisted and Alex rolled his eyes when he turned back to the barista. Coffee is coffee, as far as Alex was concerned. 

“And for you?” The lady behind the counter asked once she had finally stopped trying to flirt with John, who was far too invested in being obnoxious about coffee to even notice.

“Uh, the same,” he said because he really couldn’t care less.

“Cream and sugar?”

“Oh no it’s fine,”

John’s eyebrows rose as Alex turned to face him.

“You drink your coffee black? I’m impressed,”

“Oh, you know I just live to impress you,” Alex replied, stuck halfway between sarcastic and flirtatious.

John’s eyes flashed with surprise at Alex’s snark before grabbing their drinks from the counter.

“It’s nice out, wanna sit outside?”

“Lead the way,” Alex gestured for John to go on.

The patio was open and right along the road, but the sun warmed everything for the first time in months and Alex couldn’t help but enjoy the feeling of the sun dancing along his cheekbones as he tipped his head back slightly.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Alex was honestly shocked at how well that date had gone. He hadn’t thought he’d actually hit it off with the guy, much less feel comfortable telling him about his past. He rarely spoke about his mother and the hurricane, but John had made him so comfortable. In turn, John had told him about his father, turns out he was that Laurens, son of senator Henry Laurens. Having a gay son was simply not an option for his staunchly Republican father and so Laurens was required to find a young lady to accompany him whenever his father wanted his presence at some social event. When Alex asked where he found girls to accompany him, he waved his hand vaguely. It was usually never a problem, he replied. And with that easy smile it was easy to see why. Not to mention his eyes. God, Alex could just get lost in them. 

Wait. Alex almost stopped in the middle of his walk to his next class. Was he actually attracted to John? Obviously the guy was attractive, he mused, but was he attracted to him? 

There was, he supposed, only one way to find out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a lot longer than the others, I hope y'all like it as much as I do.

Alex fidgeted, adjusting his clothes and brushing his hair back behind his ears. He glances up and down the hall again before knocking on John’s dorm room door, three quick knocks. He couldn’t help but hold his breath in nervous anticipation, he couldn’t believe he was actually doing this.

Honestly, he hadn’t thought John had been serious when he offered him wine earlier that day out on the Starbucks patio. He knew John was only nineteen like him, even if their minds were older, and had assumed he was bluffing about the wine. Nobody on campus had wine anyways, they either had cheap beer or hard liquor, intended to get you fucked up as fast as possible.

But sure enough, when Alex had teasingly texted him not ten minutes ago about that wine, John had sent him is room number and an actual goddamn winky face emoji. It was 11 pm and even though Alex wouldn’t go to bed for another few hours, he’d still changed into his pajamas, as though that was the same as getting some actual rest. The next day was Friday and he had a 9 am class before he planned to catch a bus back home to stay with Lafayette for the weekend. 

Objectively, he knew going to John’s room was a bad idea but, as Hercules had once pointed out, eighty percent of Alex’s body mass was made of bad ideas. The other twenty percent anxiety caused by those bad ideas.

Finally the door opened to reveal John, who was in his pajama pants and a tank top. Dear lord, the freckles, Alex almost swooned.

“Hey, c’mon in,” John said with his easy grin, stepping back to let Alex through.

“Thanks,” Alex murmured, taking in the dorm room with wide eyes.

It was clean. And put together. It looked like something out of Better Homes and Gardens. The beds had been bunked on one side of the room and a room divider split the sleeping area from an honest-to-god living room with a real leather couch. Alex was in shock, these were college aged guys and was that a plant??? It was a real, tiny pine tree in a ceramic pot. There was a tall, deep wood bookshelf stacked with books about political discourse that Alex knew weren’t textbooks or even required reading for any freshman level classes. Alex turned slowly on the spot, mouth hanging open to stare a John, who was fidgeting nervously.

“What? Why are staring at everything? I cleaned before you came-”

“This is the nicest goddamn dorm room on the planet,” Alex said with quiet certainty, staring straight into John’s eyes. John snorted indelicately and visibly relaxed.

“You like it? We wanted to make it feel more like an apartment than a dorm,”

“You are absolutely never allowed to see my dorm room,” Alex huffed, “I was promised wine,” he cocked an eyebrow in mock challenge. 

John laughed and reached into the closet allowing Alex to glimpse an actual wine rack. Jesus Christ.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“Yo, what proof is this wine anyway?” Alex said dropping his head back onto the couch as his feet hung over the armrest, smooth jazz from the record player hanging in the air, “Because I’ve only had two glasses and I am gone right now,”

“That’s because you’re so tiny, eat something once in a while,” John snorted but reached for the bottle anyway, “See it’s only 13.8%!”

“Lemme see,” Alex reached for the bottle with grabby hands, making John chuckle. Alex took the bottle and sat up, fixing his posture and adopted a faux-posh accent to read the label.

“The time has come to explore your deepest, darkest desires with Ménage à Trois Midnight,” Alex paused to wiggle his eyebrows comically at John, “A gorgeous garnet color in the glass, this luxurious blend wraps you up in a velvety embrace. Voluptuous blackberry and plush spiced plum flavors seduce your palate, while hints of mocha and exotic spice linger on your lips like a stolen kiss,” Alex turned to flutter his eyelashes dramatically.

“A stolen kiss? It really says that?” John couldn’t contain his amusement at Alex’s antics.

“Sure does,” Alex exchanged that bottle for the glass and took a sip for bravery. He was never going to get an opening like this again. “So tell me, does it taste like a stolen kiss?”

Before John could fully process the statement, Alex leaned forward to press his lips to John’s. 

Alex had really expected John to pull back and laugh it off, maybe send Alex back to his room, but the moment their lips touched, John tilted his head and opened his mouth like he had been waiting for this moment forever. Alex was never one to back down and took the kiss in stride. John’s hand came up to rest on Alex’s neck and he couldn’t help but melt into the kiss when he felt fingers thread through the hair at the nape of his neck.

John kissed like drowning man. Alex had never been kissed like the other person wanted to crawl right into his skin. Even in the throes of passion, Alex had never experienced a kiss that made him so instantly present, where no wayward thought, no hidden anxiety to squeak through. He supposed to could be a combination of the wine and the new experience but god, he couldn’t care less. His tongue snuck past his lips and wow, that boy could kiss. He never wanted it to end. 

John kissed his way down to Alex’s neck, sucking briefly before Alex managed to stutter out that he was going home this weekend and didn’t want to have to explain a hickey to his foster parents, even if he wasn’t staying with them. 

“But,” Alex gasped, “If you go below my collar bones, it should be fine,”

John pulled back quickly to look into Alex’s eyes.

“Can I-?” He asked, toying with the hem of Alex’s shirt. Alex nodded, not trusting himself with words, and raised his arms so that John could pull it over his head.  
The shirt discarded, Alex laid back against the couch, pulling John down on top of him. John rested his chin on his chest to grin at him before ducking down to lick at his collar bones. Alex gasped, arching his back slightly.

“You really should eat more,” John murmured into his skin. Alex hummed, unable to answer with the feeling of John’s hands circling his waist. “You’re so skinny,”

“Fuck off,” He managed to mumble against John’s lips. Using what little physical ability he still had after the wine and equally intoxicating kisses, he flipped the two over so that he sat back on John’s hips. He reached down and took the hem of John’s tank top and pushed it slowly up his chest, revealing smooth skin peppered with freckles.

Alex couldn’t help himself and leaned down, starting at John’s belly button and licking a line straight up the center of his chest. He went straight for John’s mouth and swallowed his gasp, resisting the urge to smirk against his mouth. Yep, he had it with guys just as much as with girls.

John pulled Alex against his chest to kiss him deeper in the brief silence between songs when suddenly- 

“Why can’t we be friends? Why can’t we be friends?” came blaring from the speaker.

Alex lost it, snort-giggling into John’s neck. 

“Nice,”

John tried to lean in for another kiss but Alex just leaned back, still giggling.

“Nope,” He declared, climbing off of John, “You gotta change the song first,”

“What? No respect for the classics,” John muttered, shaking his head and chuckling. 

Alex lounged back on the couch, taking the opportunity to check out John’s ass.

John swapped the record for yet another smooth jazz soundtrack before turning to flop gracelessly back onto the couch, causing Alex to giggle again. John just gave him a fond smile and pulled him so that his bare back was pressed against John’s chest and slowly leaned them both back. Alex hummed as John reached up to card his fingers through Alex’s hair.

“You said you were a writer right?” He murmured into Alex’s ear. 

“Mm-hm,” Alex replied, tipping his head back to rest it on John’s freckled shoulder.

“Read me something you’ve written,”

Alex snorted.

“I write political rants, it’s not exactly poetry,”

“Please?” John practically whispered, scratching his fingers across Alex’s scalp. Alex was pretty sure he’d agree to anything if John asked him like that.

He huffed in fake annoyance, and grabbed his phone off the coffee table.

“Once upon a time…” He muttered sarcastically as he pulled up the overcrowded notes on his phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The "Why Can't We Be Friends?" thing actually happened to me while I was hooking up with someone; it was hilarious.


End file.
